Brigitte is Overwatch’s newest hero and she’s available on the PTR now

It’s official folks-Brigitte is Overwatch’s newest hero and she’s not what fans were expecting. Our newest hero isn’t a tank like Reinhardt or a defense machine like her father Torbjörn, she’s a support.

Today’s patch notes leaked a little early on the Overwatch forums and confirmed what we all been suspecting since Blizzard first started dropping hints. The post was removed shortly after it posted and the official hero page went live shortly after. Brigitte’s origin story shines a light on how the daughter of Torbjörn came to fight besides Reinhardt.

Brigitte grew up with Reinhardt as her godfather and Torbjörn for a father, a unique childhood to be sure. Under her father’s watchful eye she tinkered away in his workshop, sometimes using the family cat as a test subject. As she grew older she traveled with Reinhardt and saw first hand the harsh realities of war. Not content to wait until the battle is over to repair armor and bandage wounds, Brigitte studied combat under Reinhardt and joined him on the battlefield as his squire.

Jeff Kaplan walks us through the latest developer update and provides insight to Brigitte’s back story, abilities and overall strategy.

Brigitte is an armor support specialist who throws repair packs to heal teammates, or by dealing damage with her Flail. Any healing that would exceed a players maximum health is converted to armor. Using her Flail’s Rocket and Whip Shot abilities, allows Brigitte yo hit multiple enemies at an extended range. The Barrier Shield she carries offers limited protection from damage, but compensates by allowing her to stun enemies with it. Brigitte’s ultimate ability, Rally, causes her to move much faster than normal and provides all nearby allies with armor that lasts until it’s removed by damage.

It’s going to be fun to watch how the introduction of a new support hero shakes up the current meta.